This Traditional Bolognese Sauce is made using all the authentic ingredients like beef, pork, fresh tomato purée, then cooked low and slow for hours to develop a rich, hearty taste.
Cook low and slow for the best results
Bolognese sauce is a rich, thick meat sauce that needs to cook for 4 hours. Yes, 4 hours! Trust me (I make this almost weekly) and you can read the comments to back this up.
I’ve had people say (and I do agree) that after 2 hours it does seem like it’s ready and it’s pretty good, but 4 is best. I’ve had questions about adding the milk and that it seems weird. It’s not and it’s how they do it in Italy. It helps the sauce develop its richness and after 4 hours, you don’t even know that it’s in there.
Bolognese sauce, also known in Italy as ragú, originates from one of my favorite Italian cities, Bologna. I did a lot of research before writing this recipe as there are many variations of Bolognese, but this recipe is as close to the real thing.
What are the best meats to use?
The meats used in a Bolognese sauce are traditionally 50% each of ground beef and pork with a really great flavor booster, pancetta (Italian unsmoked bacon). You can use all beef if you’re not a pork eater.
White wine is added (white is traditional, but you can use red if you prefer) along with a good quality tomato puree, milk and beef stock. The longer this sauce is simmered, the better the flavor so set aside a good 4 hours for the best result. When one would expect oregano or basil to be used in an Italian recipe, seasonings are very minimal in Bolognese. Only salt and pepper is used.
How much sauce does this recipe make?
This traditional Bolognese recipe makes 3 quarts/12 cups of sauce. You will need a large pan for this and the reason I made so much is because this sauce is going in a traditional lasagna Bolognese (which is also very large and really good!) You can find that recipe here > lasagna Bolognese.
Serving suggestions
This sauce is not only used in lasagna, Bolognese can also be served with wide, flat tagliatelle, a pasta that can hold the weight of the sauce.
Pan tip
Now, it may see obvious to cook this Bolognese sauce in a stock pan, but this is not the best for helping the sauce reduce. As you can see by the images, I use a wide braising pan which is 11-inches in diameter and 4 quarts and can hold all the ingredients. A 4-quart deep skillet will work also.
What is the difference between a Ragu and Bolognese?
Both are Italian sauces with differences, but they are both made with meat and it’s the choice of meats that make the difference in the sauces. Bolognese (Ragu all Bolognese) originates from Bologna, Italy. Ragu is from Naples Italy. They both use soffrito (carrots, celery, pancetta), white wine, beef broth and tomato sauce. The other difference is the pasta that they are served with. Ragu is served with spaghetti, where Bolognese is served with a wider pasta.
What is a marinara sauce?
Marinara is a tomato based sauce that has not meat. I have an easy recipe for this sauce here easy homemade marinara sauce.
Traditional Bolognese Sauce – Step by Step
Step 1 – brown the beef, pork and pancetta, salt and pepper in olive oil and butter. Step 2– Add the veggies. Chopped onion, celery and carrot (then garlic). Step 3 – Mix in the wine and reduce a little. Step 4– Add the tomato puree, beef stock and milk. Mix, partially cover and leave for 4 hours.
Slow Cooker Method
This is the perfect sauce that can be cooked in the slow cooker. Prepare as the recipe instructs and after step 3, transfer the sauce to a slow cooker pre-heated on high and let it cook away for 4 hours.
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Traditional Bolognese sauce
This traditional Bolognese sauce is made using all the authentic ingredients like beef, pork, fresh tomato purée, then cooked low and slow for hours to develop a rich, hearty taste.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 ½ pounds 80/20 ground beef
- 1 ½ pounds ground pork
- 6 ounces pancetta chopped finely
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 11 ounces large onion finely chopped
- 2 celery stalks finely chopped
- 6 ounces (1 large) carrot finely chopped
- 5 garlic cloves grated or finely chopped
- 1 cup white wine or red if you prefer
- 3 1/2 cups good quality can tomato puree 28 ounces
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup beef stock
Instructions
To a large, heavy saucepan add the oil and butter over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted and bubbly, add the beef, pork, pancetta, salt, pepper. Brown, breaking up the meat while cooking.
When the meat is browned, add the onion, celery and carrots, mix well and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.
Add the wine, stir and allow to cook and reduce slightly for about 3 minutes. Add the tomato purée, milk, stock and mix well.
Partially cover and simmer for 4 hours, stirring often to prevent it sticking to the bottom. If any fat rises to the top, use a spoon to skim it off.
- When done, taste for seasoning and adjust to your taste.
mira says
Love Bolognese sauce and this looks amazing! Pinning to try it asap!
Janette says
Yes, celery. Thank you for stopping by.
Maggie says
Do you drain the meat?
Janette says
Hi Maggie, I do not drain the meat because the juices are where all the flavor is from the pancetta and you need a little fat in the pan to cook the onions, celery and carrots. Thank you for your question.
Chris says
You can cook the meat first and take it out to drain. Then cook the pancetta and then add the veggies.
Janette says
Thanks Chris. I don’t suggest this in the recipe because the fat is needed to cook the vegetable and also has all the flavor from the pancetta which intensifies the flavor as it cooks. I do suggest skimming any fat from the sauce at the end. Thanks for stopping by.
Annette haney says
Hi there!
I’m currently making the sauce and was wondering if it thickens over the 4 hours.
Thank you!
Janette says
Hi Annette, yes, it is the long cooking of the sauce that gets it so thick and also thickens as it cools. I hope you enjoy!
Dana Garrard says
This sauce looks amazing and I’m going to try the recipe. I’ve traveled throughout Italy, but I’ve not seen bolognese with quite this much meat. I prefer a meatier version and can’t wait to try this one. I’ll follow up!
Janette says
Thank you Dana. I spent a lot of time in Bologna and this is the typical sauce that you would find there. I hope you enjoy it.
Jessica says
Hi, just a couple of question. Can this be done in a crockpot? And is the milk necessary? If so, can it be subbed with almond milk?
Thank you for your time
Janette says
Thank you so much for your questions. You could make it in a crockpot. I haven’t tried it, but I would do the first 4 steps of the recipe by browning the onions and garlic first in a pan. Add them to the crockpot then start at step 5 by adding the wine and so on. Cook on high for 4 hours.
You can just omit the milk. It just add richness and it’s part of the traditional recipe, but it would be better to just leave it out rather than use almond milk.
I hope you enjoy the sauce.
Jo Ann West says
I don’t mean to step on anyone’s toes but after reading this question, I can’t help but wanting to stick my nose in. The calcium in milk actually breaks down the proteins in the meat making it much more tender tender. As for the crockpot, this sauce is cooked with the cover ajar so that it evaporates, condenses and thickens as it cooks, and after 4 hours, it is not only thicker but also more flavorful. In a crockpot, this won’t happen. It will stay soupy.
Janette says
Thank you for the great information Jo Ann, this is very helpful.
Laura says
Can you make this without the pancetta? I can’t find it anywhere!!!!
Janette says
Hi Laura, yes you can make it without. If you can find unsmoked bacon, you could also use that. Thanks for stopping by.
Vicky says
Trader Joe’s carries chopped pancetta
Janette says
I know my Trader Joes carries chopped pancetta and if you can’t find it chopped, they surely will have it sliced in the deli area. I hope you enjoy the sauce.
Jo Ann West says
This was fabulous! Great recipe. I sautéed the onions, carrots, celery and gar.ic in the olive oil until they started to brown, then I added the pork and beef and cooked until it was no longer pink. I deglazed with the wine, then added all the other ingredients. I added 2 Bay leaves, which is also traditional per my mother in law. After 4 hours, it was done! I cannot say enough how absolutely delicious this came. Perfect recipe! I have made Bolognese before but this is the best recipe so far, other than my mother in law’s recipe. She came over form Italy when she was in her late 20s. Her Bolognese was to die for! She jarred her own tomatoes, ground her own meat, made her own beef stock with beef bones, and never measured a thing. She developed Alzheimer’s before I had learned how to make it from her and have been trying to find the right recipe for years. Now I have it! Thank you!
Janette says
Thank you so much for your amazing and detailed feedback and informative information. I’m so glad you liked the recipe, now you have to use it to make my lasagne Bolognese 🙂
http://culinaryginger.com/lasagna-bolognese/
Marissa says
Hi there,
I’m. It sure what type of wine to use? Or can I skip the wine?
Can’t wait to make it tonight!
Janette says
HI Marissa, you can use any red or white wine you would drink and you could also just skip it. I hope you enjoy the sauce.
Marzio Conti says
Shouldn’t be garlic in a proper Bolognese sauce.
Janette says
Hi Marzio, there are 5 garlic cloves listed in the recipe. They are added in step 5 and you can also see it in the video.
Shama says
Hi.if i use 250 grams of meat in total how
much milk should i use?
Janette says
Hi Shama, it looks like you are using approximately 2/3 of the amount of meat from the recipe. That would mean you would have cut every ingredient by 2/3 to make the recipe work. I hope this helps and you enjoy the sauce 🙂
James says
This sounds really good and want to try this sauce. However, I don’t eat pork or pork products. What could I use to substitute?
Janette says
Hi James, you can just use all ground beef and omitting the ground pork the pancetta. I hope you enjoy the sauce.
John says
I made your sauce and it came out just great . I won’t change anything about it. Thank u
Janette says
Hi John, thank you for the great feedback, I make it a lot myself and I’m glad you like it.
Michael says
Janette, I recently stumbled across your recipe on Pinterest and decided (after comparing several recipes) to give yours a try. This was actually my first time attempting to make bolognese and I have to tell you that this recipe is DELICIOUS!!! Out of laziness, I decided to use bacon in place of the pancetta and used a red blend as my wine choice. The depth of flavor in this sauce was absoltuely outstanding. I wouldn’t change a single thing about it. Thank you so much for sharing! I am thrilled to add this recipe in my arsenal! Cheers!
Janette says
Hi Michael, thank you so much for the wonderful feedback. Bacon is the next best choice to pancetta and the wine choice is totally up to the chef. I’m so glad you like it and it has really become one of the most popular recipes on my website.
Wendy says
I’m making your recipe today, it’ll be my fittest time making it, so I’m very excited! It’s a perfect day fur a Bolognese dish today. Thanks for the recipe!
Janette says
Hi Wendy, this is my most popular recipe and I make it all the time myself. I’m sure you’re going to love it.
miriam says
Thinking of making this. Does it make a difference whether whole or fat free is used? Thanks!
Cindy Carroll says
I just made this sauce–it is delicious! I’m going to freeze it and serve it to my family on Christmas Eve. I can’t wait to get the reaction:) Thank you for a great recipe!
Janette says
Hi Cindy, I’m so glad you like the sauce and I hope everyone enjoys it. I just made some the other day and I’m working through my leftovers. Happy Holidays!
Jeff Gavigan says
Great sauce…Thought that 2 cups of milk might be way too much initially but it was perfect. Sauce needs 4 hours though…you can’t do it right in 2. Once you add your noodles make sure and put a few cups of your starchy water in to help the sauce stick to the pasta. You NEED a thick noodle or pasta shape for this sauce!
Christina says
The first time I made this it was awesome, very flavorful. Couldn’t find pancetta this time and I drained most of the grease. Much more bland tasting. Do u think it’s the absence of the pancetta, the grease, or both? Thanks
Janette says
Hi Christina, it does sound like leaving out the pancetta may have been the cause of the bland taste. I have never made it without it so I cannot say first hand. I hope you will be able to find it for the next time you make it.
Terry says
Looking forward to trying this recipe. I’ve used other recipes before with relative success. What’s your thoughts on substituting ground beef with ground veal?
Janette says
Hi Terry, I have never tried it using veal so I cannot comment on the flavor, but I have seen recipes using pork and veal so it must be delicious. If you try it, come back and let me know how it is 🙂
Helene says
Not sure what kind of tomato puree?
Or is it canned crushed tomatoes?
Thanks 🙂
Janette says
Hi Helene, tomato puree is cooked, peeled and strained tomatoes that is thicker than regular tomato sauce with no added herbs or seasonings with a deeper flavor than tomato sauce. You can also use tomato sauce with no added herbs or seasonings or crushed tomatoes.
Debbie says
Can you use heavy cream instead of milk?
Janette says
Hi Debbie, you can use heavy cream instead of milk, it will make the sauce a little richer. Thanks for stopping by.
brenda says
2 ounces celery stalks finely chopped
Elba says
In cup or number of pieces, how much celery, onion and carrot? Looking forward to making this!
Janette says
I don’t like to use cup measurements for chopped vegetables as you don’t know how much you have until the vegetable is chopped and don’t know how much to buy. Using ounces in the recipe, people can weigh the vegetables in the produce section as they buy them. The recipe states 2 celery stalks, 1 large onion and 6 ounces of carrot is roughly 1 large. I hope this helps and you enjoy the sauce.
Karen says
This is fabulous! I doubled the recipe the second time I made it. Put it in freezer containers to pull out for all of my pasta recipes.
Janette says
I love to make extra for freezing. Thank you for stopping by and leaving the great feedback.
Colleen says
I improvised a little bit.
Didn’t buy pork & didn’t want to run back out, but I did have 8 links of chicken Italian sausage with peppers & onions (already mixed into the sausage) in the freezer, so I pulled them out, defrosted, removed from the casing and browned that with the beef.
Also added two finely diced sweet potatoes to bump-up the vitamins/nutrients/roughage/thickening, and – my family likes a sweet pasta sauce, so I added 1/2 cup packed brown sugar.
Then simmered everything for 4 hours in my amazing smelling house…
Delicious! Great base recipe – just made a couple of changes to “make it my own.” 😉
Janette says
This is great Colleen, I love it when my readers make a recipe their own and I’m so glad it was a hit.
Janette says
I’m so glad you liked it and making a recipe your own is always a good thing. Thanks for the feedback.
Sandra says
This sauce looks soooo good. Can it be used on hotdogs to make chili dogs?
Janette says
It is as good as it looks. You know, that is a great idea adding to hot dogs for an Italian chili dog flair. I will have to give that a try 🙂
Jonathan Hudon says
I, a big pastas enthusiast, cant wait to try this.
Janette says
I think you’ll love it
Jonathan Hudon says
Can we use a homemade tomatoes purée?
Janette says
Absolutely! That would be delicious and I’m so jealous you have homemade 🙂
Jonathan Hudon says
There is catch thought… it need a lot of tomatoes. Very easy to cook however.
Doug says
This is an awesome recipe. I made it this evening and did not deviate from the ingredients at all. I followed the instructions to the T and the results were amazing! Thank you!
Janette says
I love to hear this, thank you for sharing Doug 🙂
Marji says
Love this sooooooo much. It was easy to follow and a fantastic taste. My daughter requested for her birthday meal – and she is 17. Trader Joes does carry a panchetta that works super great. Thanks so much for sharing.
Janette says
Thank you so much for the great feedback. This has made my day and I’m so glad you all like it and your daughter is awesome 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
Jamie says
Currently simmering right now. Smells amazing and everyone keeps asking when do they eat. Thank you for sharing this recipe. It’s so easy and perfect..
Janette says
This makes me so happy. Thank you for sharing and enjoy!
Lori I says
OMG this sauce is amazing. Now I can’t decide if to make spaghetti or lasagna. I followed the directions exaclty and it came out perfect, I did add some mushrooms.
Janette says
This makes me so happy Lori and I love to add mushrooms sometime too. Thanks for stopping by.
Rockymt says
Planning to make this as recipe suggests here. Could I lessen the amount of milk by.half and increase beef stock?
Janette says
You could lessen the amount of milk and replace with beef stock. The milk just adds richness to the sauce. Come back and tell me how you liked it.
Josh says
What other herbage besides bay leaves can I use for this?
Janette says
You can add dried basil (or fresh at the end of the cooking), or dried oregano. I did not add them to the recipe as they are not traditional, but will certainly be delicious. I hope you enjoy the recipe and stop by to let me know how it went.
Stephanie says
What temp do I leave it for 4 hours?
Janette says
Thank you for your question. The sauce should simmer, so the heat should be as low as possible to achieve a simmer because as the sauce thickens, it will spit and can make a mess, this is why I suggest partially covering with a lid. All stoves are different, I use gas but a lot of people have electric stoves and the setting varies, but always go for the lower heat. I hope this helps and you enjoy the sauce.
Daniela says
Hi, what type of wine should I use for cooking.. this always confuses me
Janette says
Any wine that is good for drinking is good for cooking because if the wine doesn’t taste good, neither will the food and it doesn’t have to be expensive at all. For the Bolognese sauce, white or red wine will work. I hope this helps.
Brenda Westington says
I am making a double batch of this right now. We love this sauce, especially in your lasagna recipe.
Janette says
I’m so jealous, I wish I had a pan of it bubbling away right now. Thanks for enjoying my recipes.
Karin says
I just finished making this sauce and it’s simmering now. My house smells amazing and I can’t wait to try it. I used my food processor to chopped all the veggies. Thank you for the recipe!!!!
Janette says
Thank you so much for your comment, I hope you love the sauce.
I love to use it in my Lasagna Bolognese if you want to give that a try: https://culinaryginger.com/lasagna-bolognese/
Laura Evans says
This is my 3rd time making this dish. It is so tasty and freezes well also. Thanks for sharing!
Lynn says
Can you use Italian Sausage Mild/sweet or hot instead of the ground beef? Or Ground Turkey?
Janette says
Italian sausage mild or hot, or turkey would be delicious to use. Let me know how it turns out and thanks for stopping by.
The1mrcheesecake says
Hands down the best spaghetti sauce I ever made. After the four hour simmer I scooped away 6 cups of fat and was left with a thick, meaty and tasty sauce.
Janette says
Thank you for this amazing feedback. Now I’m craving a big pan of it 🙂
Lori says
Wonderful! Made for dinner everyone loved💕
Jo Ann says
My recipe is very similar, however, I brown the vegetables, add the meat and cook until the meat browns, as well. Then I add the liquids. Browning the vegetables adds so much added flavor. I also use a bay leaf. My mother in law grew up in Italy and came here as an adult. She was the best cook I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I make her recipe.
Janette says
Thank you for sharing your recipe. My recipe is from my husbands Italian grandmother 🙂